Sizzling in the Land of Flames
JCU Debate went to Liberty University, home of the Liberty Flames, October 7-9. Here, inside the rather imposing DeMoss Learning Center, JCU Debate started some fires of our own. Both teams cleared into the elimination rounds, and neither was content to leave those elim rounds early.
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After a gruelling trip, that had us leaving Thursday after classes and arriving in Lynchburg around 4 a.m., the team got off to a great start on Friday. Both teams went 2-0 in the presets, leaving us a perfect 4-0 for the day. Saturday was not as kind, as Matt Gayetsky and Tasha Forchione got up to 3-1, then stumbled briefly, but ung on to make the quarterfinals as the 8th seed. In novice, Chris Schroeder and Sean McClure finished the prelims as the 2nd seed, and also advanced to the quarters. |
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Demoss Learning Center, Liberty University |
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Pre-tournament prep: Michael Grossman (L), Andy Labuza (R) and Tasha Forchione (back) get ready. |
Chris Schroeder and Sean McClure debate in the prelims. |
At the Saturday evening banquet, the debaters picked up some nice hardware. From left to right: Sean McClure (6th speaker, novice) Chris Schroeder (2nd speaker, novice) Matt Gayetksy (4th speaker, varsity)
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All of the tournament participants also had the opportunity to question Dr. Jerry Falwell, the former head of the Moral Majority and founder and chancellor of Liberty University. Dr. Falwell always makes time in his incredibly busy schedule to engage the debaters on any subject they choose. For them, it's a chance to challenge Dr. Falwell. For him, its a quick tune up before his next interview with Ted Koppel. |
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| The next morning, JCU Debate became exterminators, as both teams engaged the Richmond University Spiders, and both emerged victorious. Chris and Sean went negative, and defeated Richmond 's plan to pressure China to withdraw its claims to the Spratlys Islands, while Matt and Tasha persuaded the judges that it was essential to pressure China to abandon its practice of harvesting organs from executed prisoners. |
Tasha Forchione debating in the semis against Boston College. |
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The tournament ended in the semifinals for Sean and Chris, who lost a 2-1 decision to George Mason University . Although they were disappointed to drop the round, they were clearly thrilled with their second straight powerful performance, now having finished 3rd and 5th at the first two tournaments of their debate careers. |
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| Matt and Tasha had a rematch with Boston College in their semis, and this time, JCU was victorious. Although BC employed a strategy we were less than fully prepared to debate, Matt and Tasha found a weakness, exploited it, and walked away with a 3-0 victory, which set up a final round showdown with the Catholic University of America. It was here that JCU's run ended, with a 3-0 loss in the final round. Nonetheless, it was a final round appearance and a second place finish in just the second tournament of the season. |
Matt and Tasha placed 2nd in the varsity division. |
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JCU's Director of Debate, Dr. Brent Brossmann, was absolutely thrilled with the outcome. “It was a fabulous weekend for all involved. Both teams we entered debated extremely well, and Andy Labuza, who came to flow, scout, and learn, also had a very productive, very educational weekend. We are definitely headed in the right direction ” |
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